Are Scotch Bonnets easier to grow than Habaneros?

[Shule]

Are Scotch Bonnets easier to grow than Habaneros, in your opinion? I'm not looking for a single right answer (I'm looking for just discussion, opinions, and experience).

I'm going to tag some people who I think might have insights, but the question is to everyone.
[mention]Gardenboy[/mention] [mention]Rajun Gardener[/mention]

[Gardenboy]

Most "hot" peppers are easier to grow than your standard bell pepper, BUT my feeling is..the fresher the seeds...the easier they are to germinate. Also make sure you are saving seeds from a RED ripened pepper.

[goodloe]

I've never grown Scotch Bonnet. I had seeds for the "P.Dreadie" strain, but it was involved in a swap. Like [mention]Gardenboy[/mention] said, hot peppers are relatively easy to grow. I've grown Reapers, Fatalii, Mustard Habanero, Red Habanero, and Ghostpeppers, and they all did well for me. Don't grow any of them anymore, as I can't eat them!

[MikeUSMC]

They're equally easy to grow, provided you have viable seed stock. There should be absolutely no difference at all. They're both C. Chinense; treat them exactly the same

[pondgardener]

I've grown both at the same time and noticed no difference in growth. And as mentioned above, viable seed stock is important.

[MsCowpea]

I know there are red scotch bonnets but I always grow the Jamaican yellow version. They don't turn red. I have seeds for both the red and yellow--the seeds came from Jamaica or Jamaican grocery store in NY I don't remember. But I had better seeds years ago. These plants are from them. Just the same as growing Habaneros though I have only grown a few of these.
The difference is the flavor. Indispensable in JA recipes from Pumpkin Soup to Chicken Fricassee, etc etc.

This was the glory year for SB. Had 8 containers. Even tried to sell them at several JA grocery stores, something I had NEVER tried to do. Grow them every year but right now only have 2 old plants in the ground on their last legs.

scotch bonnets, roy, bees on squash. BIG HM EBox 006.jpg

Scotch Bonnets in Bowl.jpg

[MikeUSMC]

Wow! Those are some GORGEOUS looking Scotch Bonnets, MsCowpea! Picture perfect phenotype! They're my favorite pepper, and I grew every strain I could get my hands on in 2016. I plan on doing a "Bonnet heavy" grow list this year too

The "Chocolate" (dark brown) and "Cappuccino" (light brown) varieties are delicious as well, and have smoky undertones. They make fantastic smoked powders and sauces

Nothing like the uniquely distinct flavor of a fresh, yellow Bonnet though! Much better than the red variation, IMHO


Is there any chance you might have some seeds from those pods laying around? I'd love to work out a seed trade with you, or some of my Scotch Bonnet (Bajan style) sauce, maybe? Rajun Gardener can vouch for me on that one

[Shule]

Hmm. I've grown a fair amount of kinds of hot peppers, and in my garden, they're not all equally easy to grow, even when using multiple seed sources. For instance, any Habanero I've tried from any source has grown super slowly and never produced a thing in time. However, I've had great success with other varieties of hot peppers both of the same species and others (they would grow vigorously and produce well). I guess this phenomenon might be soil and/or climate specific. It's possible all my sources for Habaneros had bad seeds, but it would be a significant coincidence. It's probably the soil, since I know people have grown Habaneros successfully in the area (but I'm guessing they purchased plants to get a head start). Maybe there's a mineral in the soil that's toxic to them, which other peppers don't mind as much.

So, no one else has had this issue with Habaneros, then?

[MissS]

Habaneros grow just fine here in SW Wisconsin.

[MsCowpea]

Mike, if I had seeds from that batch (or offspring) I would be happy to send you some but alas I do not. As I didn’t have any of my own seeds left (long story) I had to hustle around and get seeds from Jamaican friend awhile back. But they are not the same . I grew them and another JA friend told me they werent hot enough. What a thing to say. I didn’t save any seeds which I am regretting but I have small peppers in freezer which may have to do in a pinch. I also just ordered some from the internet-the picture looks right but I don’t know about the flavor. I haven’t received them yet. Fingers crossed. But what one person calls scotch bonnet can be far removed from my ideal scotch bonnet. My DH has a strong JA connection (father was Jamaican/mother English) . He Lived and worked in JA a long time so we have always loved growing scotch bonnets and use them in every stew, gravy, soup, etc.

[MsCowpea]

Shule, Besides scotch bonnet I have grown jalapeño, thai peppers, and St. Augustine Datils but no habaneros. You said habanero but I mixed it up with jalapeño. Sorry. I don’t know how easy or not they are to grow. The famous St. Augustine, Fl. pepper Datil was Very easy and productive but I didn’t like them.

[pondgardener]

[mention]MsCowpea[/mention]
Have you ever tried Congo Black, also referred to as "Chocolate Habanero"? One seed supplier mentions that it is used for Jamaican jerk sauce. I grew them a few years ago and it was a very hot, pretty habanero type.

[MsCowpea]

George, I will try them. Always on the look out for a hot pepper with spicy flavor. I know the jerk seasoning made in JA (Walkerswood) uses scotch bonnets but maybe habs are used elsewhere. Thanks.

[MsCowpea]

MikeUSMC, I AM EMBARRASSED to offer you really old, old seeds. Could you sprout 6 to 10 year old seeds, not quite as ancient as seeds from the pyramids. I don’t want to offer anything that you feel is worthless. These would have been from a good plant. Wish I had good ones to send you. I will try to sprout them but it is not my forte nor have I tried with such oldies, but I will give it a go. Elaine.

[MikeUSMC]

MikeUSMC, I AM EMBARRASSED to offer you really old, old seeds. Could you sprout 6 to 10 year old seeds, not quite as ancient as seeds from the pyramids.

"Embarrased"? Please, don't be!
I just found a few varieties in my stash from 2004 that I'm going to try to sprout THIS YEAR

I don’t want to offer anything that you feel is worthless. These would have been from a good plant. Wish I had good ones to send you.

I'd be happy to take some off of your hands! I promise I won't get my hopes up too high for germination rates, lol!

Look at it this way: if neither of us can get them to sprout, we'll know for sure that they're (probably) not viable. If I CAN get them to sprout (we only need ONE! ), I'll isolate the whole plant this year, save a ton of seed, and replenish your stock (mail them back to you) at the end of the season. WIN/WIN

It's worth a shot; especially for Bonnets as good looking as those!

[MsCowpea]

Mike USMC

That is great that you want to try. Please PM me your address and I will send you some of these pitiful seeds.

jdback is going to try as well but to paraphrase what he said ‘dead is dead’ but he is game to try. They do look totally
Desiccated and non-viable but no sense in not trying. Thanks ! Elaine

[JimmyWu]

I'll agree with everyone's opinion on ease of growth. Sometimes it's hit or miss on actual pepper volume. You should try overwintering your plants at the end of the season. It will give you a head start the following Spring.

-Jimmy

[pepperhead212]

Those chocolate habaneros are one of my favorite chinense peppers I have ever grown, and I've tried a lot of them! Just guessing, they are about 400k SUs, and have an incredible amount of that wonderful habanero flavor. Many varieties (including the only scotch bonnet that I ever grew) just don't have as much of the flavor, and I have to add much more in a dish, to taste that good flavor (sometimes making it too hot). Also, early on (back in the 80s) almost all of the habaneros were very late peppers - 120 to 130 days - and I got very few peppers, probably because they were just starting out, and my season was ending! However, they had to improve this for commercial growers, and now, most of them are much earlier. Mine usually start ripening around the first week in August, after transplanting around 5-15, to give you an idea of the time. Here is a photo of some from a couple of years ago, with the left 4 qt bowl from just one plant:
DSCF0336 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Chocolate habs are what I call indeterminate peppers - like tomatoes, they start flowering, and the peppers form, grow, and ripen, non-stop, until the end of the season, with all different sizes and stages of ripeness on the plant at the same time.

[DMF]

So, no one else has had this issue with Habaneros, then?

Depends on the hab. Some of the more .. "interesting" varieties like Giant White can be slow and/or persnickety. For plain old habs, no.

Now, the issue may be your expectations. Hots and C.chinense in general are relatively slow growing by nature.

[Tracydr]

I wonder if it depends on climate and soil. I can grow huge scotch bonnets and datils in North Carolina. When I lived in AZ, I found habaneros easier but here I notice they don’t seem to thrive like the SBs and datils. Carolina reapers do pretty well here but I have noticed they are thinner skinned and more prone to Armyworms than SBs.